The trial over the alleged murder of Terlingua bar owner Glenn Felts by Tony Flint begins later this month in Sierra Blanca, after having been moved from Brewster County at the request of Flint's Odessa-based attorney Justin Low.
The trial begins with jury selection on Monday April 27th in Sierra Blanca, in Hudspeth County.
Flint is facing a first-degree felony murder charge for allegedly killing Felts outside the La Kiva Bar in Terlingua sometime after midnight on February 3, 2014. Felts' body was discovered by an employee outside the bar the next morning.
Authorities said early on they suspected foul play was involved. Flint was arrested the same day Felts' body was found. He was released from jail on a $200,000 bond later that month, with one stipulation being that he not come within 30 miles of the Texas-Mexico border - effectively barring him from Terlingua - and that he remain in Brewster County.
Flint faces anywhere from 5 to 99 years or life in prison in convicted.
83rd District Attorney Rod Ponton said the death penalty is not an option with first-degree murder charges.
Ponton wouldn't comment on the evidence the prosecution will present at the trial, but said he expects the state will present evidence during the trial's second week.
The rare murder case shocked and saddened the communities of South Brewster County, as Outside Magazine reported:“This has always been a safe place,” [71-year-old Betty] Moore said as we talked in the bookshop of the Terlingua Trading Company, which she manages.
“Nobody here locks their doors. I never thought about the possibility of harm coming to me here. That’s one reason people are so heartbroken. It wasn’t supposed to happen here.”
